‘Chanakya of Bengal politics’ Mukul Roy dies at 71 after prolonged illness
The Statesman | 23 February 2026
Former Railway Minister and one-time Trinamool Congress number two Mukul Roy passed away in the early hours of Monday at a private hospital in Kolkata. He was 71.
Roy breathed his last at around 1:30 am. Reports suggest Roy was battling various health issues.
A founding member of the Trinamool Congress when the party came into existence in January 1998, Roy rose from the ranks of the Youth Congress in Bengal to become one of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s closest political aides. Known as the ‘Chanakya of Bengal politics’, he was regarded as the party’s principal strategist, both in Kolkata and in Delhi, for years.
From Youth Congress to Trinamool’s Delhi face
After helping build the Trinamool Congress alongside Banerjee, Roy was appointed the party’s general secretary and later emerged as its key representative in the national capital.
Elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2006, Roy served as the Trinamool Congress leader in the Upper House from 2009 to 2012. During the UPA II government, Roy first held the portfolio of Minister of State for Shipping. He was later appointed as Railway Minister in March 2012.
Architect of defections and a controversial phase
As the party’s general secretary till 2015, Roy solidified the TMC’s organisational base by overseeing a significant wave of defections from the CPI(M) and the Congress.
However, his political journey was not without controversy. His name was linked to the Saradha chit fund scam and the Narada sting operation case.
The distance between Roy and the Trinamool leadership widened over time. In November 2017, he joined the BJP and worked on the ground to expand the party’s footprint in West Bengal. He is given credit for helping the BJP win 18 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in the state.
Roy was elected as a BJP MLA from Krishnanagar Uttar in the 2021 Assembly elections. But within months, in June 2021, he returned to the Trinamool Congress.
Return to TMC and disqualification
After his return, Roy was never quite the political force he once was. He was reportedly suffering from dementia and other ailments in recent years.
On November 13, 2025, the Calcutta High Court disqualified him as an MLA under the anti-defection law for defecting to the ruling Trinamool Congress after being elected on a BJP ticket in the 2021 elections.